Author
Topic: Pino Signoretto 'The Lovers' (Read 1982 times)

I am new to this site, and would like to see if some one can assist me with some information.Several years ago (1992), I purchased a piece of art glass by reknowned glass artist Pino Signoretto. The work is called 'The Lovers'.I am looking for information about collectors of this man's work, and where to purchase and sell similar items. I would truly appreciate anyone's assistance. DTB

Rose, thank you for taking the time to respond and send information my way. I did look at the links and was elated when I saw some of the asking prices on Ebay. Imagine my surprise when I got an appraisal from M Clayton Brown (an appraisal house in New Orleans) for 20G today. Now the question is 'WHAT TO DO'.... :hiclp:I still need to research for some collectors of Pino Signoretto's work. Once more, thank you. Have a wonderful weekend. DTB

It's possible that this form originated far earlier, in the 1950s. See this thread: http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,14075.msg90682.html#msg90682. If anyone has seen or owns alabastro examples of this form, please provide any information to help solve this interesting mystery. Not meaning to "hijack" this thread, but the question DID arise as to who originated this form, and when.

To the poster who brought up the question as to who was the heir apparent to 'The Lovers' design. It is widely known in Murano Glass world and mostly everywhere else, that this design by Pino Signoretto is what put him on the map and launched his career as a Master Glass Artist and Designer. If you research some of the links that were graciously supplied me by Rose, this issue is discussed by Pino Signoretto himself. I hardly think Pino would put his reputation and career on the line by falsifying facts.Please keep me informed as to what your investigating comes up with. Be well.

Authorship is a tricky business because art does not occur in a vacuum. Pino can take credit for taking a semi-abstract 1950s Archimede Seguso form and making it less abstract, more representational by adding arms and arses. (Examine the pix of my alabastro form carefully). The "lovers" is more aptly titled the "gropers", and to my eyes takes a beautiful and subtle, abstract form to a vulgar place. It's surely possible Pinot didn't "copy" it deliberately and lie about inventing it, based on the aforesaid differences. More likely he'd seen it once in a shop or collection in Italy, maybe years before he "invented" it, and stored the image in his subconscious. The rarity of my piece makes my theory all the more plausible. Like the piece mentioned by Paul (Chuggy), a green and white madonna he owned, no other examples can be found in a reference book or online.

horochar, the pieces are actually quite different. The A. Seguso piece is made from a solid mass of glass, while the later "lovers" are made from two parts fused into one. The difficulty in Seguso's work is working with the alabastro, a thick, difficult glass. The difficulty in Pino's lovers is joining the lovers together so that they do not come apart.

One thing I've learned about most Italian glassmasters is that they have no shortage of ego. I think one has to have a lot of self confidence to work glass and turn it into a successful business, rather than a hobby. I always take the boasts of Italian glassmasters with a grain of salt. And I take the boasts that other people make about them with a whole ton of it.